more and Ran stood
on the other side. Maggie sat on some type of medical bed, her legs swinging
over the edge. When she saw me, she rushed over to stand behind Ran ’ s shoulder.
“ Darby? ” Ran asked, pulling the cloth from my
forehead. His piercing blue eyes examined the slice at my hairline, but I was
totally distracted by his mouth. His lips were perfect, almost unreal. I
thought for a moment how unfair it was that they hired such an attractive medic
because I was already beginning to feel dizzy at the sight of the blood
trickling down my face. Having someone that looked like Ran as the medical
staffer just exacerbated that spinning sensation. It was unfair on all kinds of
levels, like I was a glutton for punishment.
“ What did you do? ” He lowered his eyes to mine.
“ Sat up too quickly. Hit my head on
the bunk. ” My pulse began to throb under the injury and the headache that formed
accompanied its rhythm.
“ You had a tetanus shot recently? ” Ran asked as Maggie took my hand to
walk me to the cot that she was sitting on earlier. I lifted myself up onto it
and Ran grabbed a bottle and some gauze from a shelf lined with medicine at the
far wall.
“ Yeah, ” I grumbled. “ I think last year. ”
Ran
tilted the bottle upside-down as he paced back toward me, hiking a leg up onto
the bed. “ Good, ” he said, then hesitated as he drew
the gauze up to my face. That hesitation could only mean one thing. “ This might sting a little. ”
I
grit my teeth rather than bite my lip, and was glad I chose that option because
it stung much more than just a little, and I probably would have gnawed
completely through my lip had my teeth been pressed into it. It felt like a
branding iron pushed against my scalp, the burning sensation affecting at least
three layers of skin, I was sure. I sucked in a searing breath and counted to
ten as I closed my eyes to endure the sudden pain.
“ Sorry, ” Ran said as he tore open a butterfly
bandage. Maggie ’ s
face held an empathetic grimace as he pressed the sticky side to my forehead,
rubbing his thumb against it. It reminded me of Sonja ’ s ability to naturally show sympathy
and instantly filled me with the slight nausea of homesickness. “ You lucked out — don ’ t need stitches. But this will
probably scar. Since it ’ s
so close to your hairline, it really won ’ t
be noticeable. ”
“ What ’ s going on? ”
My
stomach and body jumped at the unexpected sound of Torin ’ s voice. He stood in the doorway at
the back of the room and had close to a dozen backpacks looped across both of
his arms, the slight sheen of sweat coating his brow, his cheeks reddened with
exertion. When he saw me, he dropped everything to the ground and hurried over
to my bedside, like maybe he was actually a little worried about whatever it
was that brought me to the medical office. At least that ’ s what it felt like. At least that ’ s what I hoped it was. “ What did you do, Darby? ”
I
jumped again. Why was I so jumpy?
“ I hit my head, ” I groaned, which was quite
appropriate to do because it really did hurt like hell. “ On the bunk beds. ”
“ Ahhh. ” Torin nodded like wasn ’ t the first time he ’ d heard this. “ Well, ” he said, thumbing his chin in a
small circular motion. He cocked his head just slightly to the right. “ This makes you look kinda hard-core.
I was gonna suggest some ink like Tara ’ s,
but you can hold your own with a gash like that. ”
“ How do you know I ’ m not covered in tats already? ”
“ I don ’ t see any, ” he said, squinting an eye and
scanning me up and down. His eyes hung a little too long below my collarbone
where I, of course, wouldn ’ t
have any tattoos, so it was glaringly obvious he was using it as an excuse to
check out my nearly nonexistent rack.
“ Maybe they ’ re all covered up, ” I suggested, for whatever reason I
wasn ’ t
sure. “ Maybe
I have more ink than the Bic Pen factory
on the other side. Maggie sat on some type of medical bed, her legs swinging
over the edge. When she saw me, she rushed over to stand behind Ran ’ s shoulder.
“ Darby? ” Ran asked, pulling the cloth from my
forehead. His piercing blue eyes examined the slice at my hairline, but I was
totally distracted by his mouth. His lips were perfect, almost unreal. I
thought for a moment how unfair it was that they hired such an attractive medic
because I was already beginning to feel dizzy at the sight of the blood
trickling down my face. Having someone that looked like Ran as the medical
staffer just exacerbated that spinning sensation. It was unfair on all kinds of
levels, like I was a glutton for punishment.
“ What did you do? ” He lowered his eyes to mine.
“ Sat up too quickly. Hit my head on
the bunk. ” My pulse began to throb under the injury and the headache that formed
accompanied its rhythm.
“ You had a tetanus shot recently? ” Ran asked as Maggie took my hand to
walk me to the cot that she was sitting on earlier. I lifted myself up onto it
and Ran grabbed a bottle and some gauze from a shelf lined with medicine at the
far wall.
“ Yeah, ” I grumbled. “ I think last year. ”
Ran
tilted the bottle upside-down as he paced back toward me, hiking a leg up onto
the bed. “ Good, ” he said, then hesitated as he drew
the gauze up to my face. That hesitation could only mean one thing. “ This might sting a little. ”
I
grit my teeth rather than bite my lip, and was glad I chose that option because
it stung much more than just a little, and I probably would have gnawed
completely through my lip had my teeth been pressed into it. It felt like a
branding iron pushed against my scalp, the burning sensation affecting at least
three layers of skin, I was sure. I sucked in a searing breath and counted to
ten as I closed my eyes to endure the sudden pain.
“ Sorry, ” Ran said as he tore open a butterfly
bandage. Maggie ’ s
face held an empathetic grimace as he pressed the sticky side to my forehead,
rubbing his thumb against it. It reminded me of Sonja ’ s ability to naturally show sympathy
and instantly filled me with the slight nausea of homesickness. “ You lucked out — don ’ t need stitches. But this will
probably scar. Since it ’ s
so close to your hairline, it really won ’ t
be noticeable. ”
“ What ’ s going on? ”
My
stomach and body jumped at the unexpected sound of Torin ’ s voice. He stood in the doorway at
the back of the room and had close to a dozen backpacks looped across both of
his arms, the slight sheen of sweat coating his brow, his cheeks reddened with
exertion. When he saw me, he dropped everything to the ground and hurried over
to my bedside, like maybe he was actually a little worried about whatever it
was that brought me to the medical office. At least that ’ s what it felt like. At least that ’ s what I hoped it was. “ What did you do, Darby? ”
I
jumped again. Why was I so jumpy?
“ I hit my head, ” I groaned, which was quite
appropriate to do because it really did hurt like hell. “ On the bunk beds. ”
“ Ahhh. ” Torin nodded like wasn ’ t the first time he ’ d heard this. “ Well, ” he said, thumbing his chin in a
small circular motion. He cocked his head just slightly to the right. “ This makes you look kinda hard-core.
I was gonna suggest some ink like Tara ’ s,
but you can hold your own with a gash like that. ”
“ How do you know I ’ m not covered in tats already? ”
“ I don ’ t see any, ” he said, squinting an eye and
scanning me up and down. His eyes hung a little too long below my collarbone
where I, of course, wouldn ’ t
have any tattoos, so it was glaringly obvious he was using it as an excuse to
check out my nearly nonexistent rack.
“ Maybe they ’ re all covered up, ” I suggested, for whatever reason I
wasn ’ t
sure. “ Maybe
I have more ink than the Bic Pen factory
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